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A sermon preached by the Reverend Michael Anderson
at St. Philip’s, Easthampton, Mass., on 7 Nov. 2021 [Proper 27; Year B]:
1 Kings 17:8-10; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Enoughness
As we all know, this autumnal season is the time when most churches engage in raising funds for the following year’s operational budget. Years ago, I was in another diocese where the bishop always insisted on referring to the “budget” as a “Statement of Mission and Ministry”. And so they are. These “budgets” are in fact statements of what really matters to a place like St. Philip’s. Most priests in my experience get quite anxious about raising money for what matters about our church. So it is that the part of today’s gospel lesson that retells the story of “the Widow’s Mite” appears to us “spiritual types” as if it were a teed-up baseball, waiting to be smacked. I say this because Jesus observes that she gave all that she had. Hmmm…
Sitting opposite the Temple Treasury and observing the faithful as they contributed their financial offerings, St. Mark depicts Jesus watching this faithful parade. That Mark implies that Jesus knew what each person was giving raises an interesting question –one that money always seems to surface. In the words of former New York City mayor Ed Koch, the question of “how m’I doin’?”, the answer to which almost always requires a a monied response. one that we’d rather keep to ourselves, lest we reveal too much of ourselves to everyone else. Read More >>
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